How isolated is Antarctica?

The traditional view of Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean as an isolated system is now being challenged by the recent discovery at the Antarctic Peninsula of adult spider crabs Hyas areneus from the North Atlantic and of larvae of subpolar marine invertebrates. These observations questio...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Main Authors: Clarke, Andrew, Barnes, David K.A., Hodgson, Dominic A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Elsevier 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/1702/
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2004.10.004
Description
Summary:The traditional view of Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean as an isolated system is now being challenged by the recent discovery at the Antarctic Peninsula of adult spider crabs Hyas areneus from the North Atlantic and of larvae of subpolar marine invertebrates. These observations question whether the well described biogeographical similarities between the benthic fauna of the Antarctic Peninsula and the Magellan region of South America result from history (the two regions were once contiguous), or from a previously unrecognized low level of faunal exchange. Such exchange might be influenced by regional climate change, and also exacerbated by changes in human impact.